Field
The present invention relates to a technique for inferring information regarding a room.
Related Art
With household appliances used indoors, there are cases where it may be preferable to perform control in accordance with the shape or the like of the room in which the household appliance is installed. For example, if an air conditioning apparatus does not perform air conditioning control in accordance with the shape of the room, it is possible for air to not circulate, and for hot spots to form.
In recent years, there have been air conditioners that allow a user to input the shape of the room, and perform air conditioning control in accordance with the room shape that was input (see JP 2000-346432A, for example). However, it is troublesome for the user if it is necessary during apparatus installation to input information such as whether the shape of the room is elongated lengthwise, elongated widthwise, square, or the like, whether the air conditioner is installed at a central, rightward, or leftward position, and whether the distance to the opposing wall is long, normal, or short. Also, since air conditioners have poor user interfaces, only a rough room shape can be input. Accordingly, there are situations in which the distance to the opposing wall is not known even if the rough room shape is known. Furthermore, if the shape of the actual room is a more complex shape, or if furniture is placed in the room, it may be preferable to perform air conditioning control that takes these facts into consideration, but it is difficult to realize optimal air conditioning control with merely the input of a rough room shape.
Also, there is known to be technology in which a TOF ranging sensor or stereo camera ranging sensor is used to acquire the shape of a room (see JP 2008-261567A, for example). The use of a ranging sensor makes it possible to accurately obtain the shape of the room, thus making it possible to perform optimal air conditioning control in accordance with the room shape. However, a TOF ranging sensor is expensive. Also, a stereo camera ranging sensor requires two cameras, and thus has a higher cost than a monocular camera.
There is also known to be technology in which air conditioning control is performed based on the presence of people in a room, the distribution of such people, and the like (see JP 2012-17936A, for example). JP 2012-17936A discloses that peoples' heads are recognized, information such as the number of people and distribution thereof over time in the room is acquired, and air conditioner air conditioning control and the like are performed based on such information. However, in the technique disclosed in JP 2012-17936A, the shape of the room cannot be acquired, and therefore it is not possible to perform air conditioning control in accordance with the shape of the room.
Although the above description mainly takes the example of an air conditional apparatus, and describes that the shape of the room in which the apparatus is installed is used in control, the information useful in air conditioning control is not limited to the shape of the room. Other room-related information is also useful in air conditioning control, such as the arrangement of furniture in the room, and regions where people are present in the room. Also, the apparatus to which room information is useful is not limited to an air conditioning apparatus, and in the case of a lighting control apparatus for example, more appropriate lighting control can be realized by taking the shape of the room and the like into consideration.
JP 2000-346432A, JP 2008-261567A, and JP 2012-17936A are examples of background art.